This Oscar winner film based on the novel of the same title by Klaus Mann seeks an answer to the eternal Faustian question: how are personalities shaped by the pressure of history in Central Europe. The career of Hendrik Höfgen, the hugely talented albeit ingratiating actor, is flying high in Germany of the 1930s... Mephisto, played with unequalled talent by Klaus Maria Brandauer, was followed by a further two films nominated for Oscars: Redl ezredes (Colonel Redl, 1984) and Hanussen (1988). In these figures, eternally failing actors, soldiers, prophets, Szabó formulated from a European perspective why, when and what sort of characters totalitarian systems are in need of to achieve their objectives.